Tuesday, May 17, 2011 10:18:52 PMHey, I'm just a guy, and I call people as I see 'em. And I've always found Bill O'Reilly to be a twat. Not because of his religious views, not because of his political stance, and dear knows I've made the effort to watch his shows (with all the fascination of rubbernecking at a car wreck) many times so surely I can't be accused of not hearing his message. I think he's a twat because he appears, to me, to be a twat.

And no, I don't read "libtard" blogs or huffpo, or any left-wing media. In fact, I can't remember the last time I read a newspaper. I entirely form my own opinions, despite the attempts at pigeonholing from the rabid conservatives.

Look, I just take people as I find them. And to me, O'Reilly is the biggest dick that I hope I will never meet. I'm actually embarrassed that he claims to be Irish. Even us non-existent f*cking Leprechauns have more to add to society than this dick head.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:38:52 PMI love Jon Stewart. I've watched Fox news and they are fear mongers, as is most American news. I personally admire Jon Stewart because he respects the people who come on his show even when their opinions go against his, and he calls out people for spinning news in an extremest way. Yes he makes fun of fox most frequently, but he makes fun of other news shows too.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:37:02 PMdidnt really pwn him at all.. But O'reilly's a "motivated" journalist and tries to lead and force opinion. Funny how so many people are willing to drink the kool aid and take O'Reilly's opinions as "news" rather that your standard week day morning opinion based talk show such as Oprah or The View.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:33:32 PM"Fox News has a right to claim they are fair and balanced, just like Ford has the right to claim they make the best trucks in the world."

Ahem, best trucks in the world is a fact, not a claim.

I personally test each F-150 transmission's electronics to make sure everything is in order before they go out the door. And that makes them the best damn trucks evar because I had my hands on them all. Ok well half of them we do 2 shifts.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:20:25 PMWEll, My point is that we fought proxy wars. In which innocent people suffered. We contributed to the suffering of innocent people that, while it would have happened regardless, was aided and endorsed by the United States. If you sell a murderer a gun knowing he's going to kill someone, you're just as guilty.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:18:18 PM"And even if he wasn't, guess what? He claims to be entertainment, not news, so even if he wasn't funny he wouldn't be obligated by any moral or ethical ties to tell the truth."

Whether or not he claims to be fair, several people in this thread admitted to taking him seriously. I know plenty of people who really do get their news from Jon Stewart, and they think that is okay. It isn't a coincidence that all of these people who watch Jon Stewart have a bizarre, unfounded hatred for Fox News, a channel hardly any of them actually ever watch.

It is because all they know about Fox News is the clips that The Daily Show chops up and presents as "clear Fox News bias." O'Reilly has called Jon out on it a couple times on his show. His defense, of course, is that his show is just comedy, and he doesn't claim to be honest.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:14:23 PM"we also had the ability to vet both Saddam and the Mujahideen"

The Mujahideen were not a problem. They successfully liberated Afghanistan from the Russians. Afterward, warlords filled the power gap, and each city was run by separate groups. Mohammed Omar was a religious zealot who decided Allah wanted him to conquer Afghanistan, and the Taliban was born.

Saddam was always a sketchy mo, but we were so concerned about Iran that we were willing to ignore it. Hindsight is always 20/20, of course.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:11:47 PMJon Stewart routinely uses his comedy program as a platform to attack Republicans and Fox News, and it is hardly ever fair. It's just funny.That's mostly because Republicans and Fox News are such easy targets, what with their over-dramatization of virtually everything and their typical reductio ad absurdum, slippery slope style arguments.

On-topic: That's exactly the point. Have you ever heard Stewart (under any serious pretense) claim that he was fair? Or balanced? No, he's claimed that he's funny. And you know what? For the most part, he is.

And even if he wasn't, guess what? He claims to be entertainment, not news, so even if he wasn't funny he wouldn't be obligated by any moral or ethical ties to tell the truth.

Truth be told, I would love to look up and continue this argument with particular incidents of Fox's bullsh*t, but it's past midnight and I have to wake up early. I'll come back tomorrow... Later today? Whatever.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:09:09 PMYes, that's true. However, we also had the ability to vet both Saddam and the Mujahideen, find out exactly who they were, and be circumspect about who we were helping, which we failed to do. We fought proxy wars with little to no consideration what that would do the the people in the warzones.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:03:27 PMNegativitron, your first picture is of Reagan meeting with the Mujahideen. They were the ones we were helping to fight Russia. At that time, the communists were our enemy, and we saw the Mujahideen as they saw themselves, freedom fighters. The Taliban was organized by an ex-Mujahideen religious zealot, who gathered an army and conquered every city in Afghanistan after Russia left.

The second picture is of Rumsfeld meeting with Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war. We had great interest in the conflict, and this is prior to Saddam's atrocities.

No, to get the President to answer as many questions as possible. People watch to see how he answers the questions posed, not to hear a 15 minute speech.

"And their first lie? That they even ARE a "news outlet."

So, what is it that Fox News has lied about, anyway? No one ever seems to present examples of all these lies that they tell.

"Jon Stewart doesn't claim to be part of a "fair and balanced" news outlet."

Fox News has a right to claim they are fair and balanced, just like Ford has the right to claim they make the best trucks in the world. It is subjective. I happen to think that Fox News is generally pretty fair, and Ford makes crappy trucks.

Jon Stewart routinely uses his comedy program as a platform to attack Republicans and Fox News, and it is hardly ever fair. It's just funny.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:39:24 PM@Negativitron - Should I post pics of Obama kissing some sheiks ring, cow towing to the Chinese, meeting Chavez and other 3rd world dirt bags.. Boy.. Obama's done nothing but meet with terrorists and dictators...weird.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:35:50 PMThose two things are one in the same.No, they aren't.

The Daily Show routinely takes clips and chops them up to be misleading.The point you're missing here:

Jon Stewart doesn't claim to be part of a "fair and balanced" news outlet. His show is on a channel called "Comedy Central" for f*ck's sake.

His job, pure and simple, stated and clear, is comedy. To make things funny. His purpose in chopping up clips? To make comedy out of them.

He present the facts as a lead up to a joke. When he chops up the clips, it's because his version is better for the punchline. And he makes that pretty obvious. People who watch Jon Stewart seriously as a news outlet are stupid. But at least he doesn't CLAIM to be news.

Saying Stewart does it as part of some "agenda" is like saying Auto-Tune the News has an agenda because they make music videos about X politician more than Y.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:14:59 PMYou mean, the right to free speech? Total bs loophole, man.No, the apparent right of a "press" outlet to claim false information as facts, based on the "freedom of press."

And their first lie? That they even ARE a "news outlet."

Since they're actually an "entertainment outlet" (in their own words), they don't HAVE to tell the truth, because they just have to entertain people and keep money in their investors pockets.

I love how the first amendment has gone from the right to criticize the government without being hanged in the streets, to the right to outright lie to and about people in order to gain publicity, ratings, and money.

I'd say that's a bullsh*t loophole. And I'd say the Founding Fathers would be ashamed.